An organization of returned Peace Corps volunteers (RPCV).
We connect Colombia RPCVs and others, and support community-based activities in Colombia.

Colombia Project News - 7/19/08

Since the February 2008 Conference when Friends of Colombia members met personally with loan recipients in Cartagena and Santa Marta, The Colombia Project has been busy enhancing communications and developing additional opportunities for collaboration with our grassroots partners in Colombia. Most notably:

  • In addition to providing loans to micro-entrepreneurs, The Colombia project is now a paying customer of one of the Santa Marta entrepreneurs.  
  • There is now a GROUP (open to FACEBOOK members only) and a PAGE (open to all) for The Colombia Project.
  • We now have the ability to accept on-line donations through PayPal.
  • The Colombia Project has opened a new site in Concordia, Antioquia through our Colombian-American partner MINICOL
  • We are working with APRODEFA-Cartagena to seek short-term administrative support until that program becomes sustainable. 

Detailed information on these developments is included below.    

Website Enhancements

Check out the new Colombia Project website at www.colombiaproject.org, updated by Victor Santafé (biktor@gmail.com) a former Magdalena Foundation scholarship recipient who now runs his own business designing and maintaining websites. This is another great example of how The Magdalena Foundation (which provides scholarship support to disadvantaged, displaced and indigenous students) and The Colombia Project work together through our grassroots partner in Santa Marta, FUNDEHUMAC to help displaced Colombians improve the standard of living for themselves and their families.  

The new website has more photos, a history of The Colombia Project from 2000 to the present, a list of donors and supporters, information about our partners, links to related website such as Friends of Colombia and The Magdalena Foundation and for the first time, The Colombia Project can now receive donations online through a Pay Pal link on the Become Part of the Project page.   

The Colombia Project has entered an agreement to have Victor, the Santa Marta web-developer, maintain the website as well, a cost-saving outsourcing that stretches available TCP funds, provides steady income for a Colombian micro-business and significantly augments our ability to communicate our message through the web. Victor’s English skills are excellent and we highly recommend him for other web projects.

FACEBOOK GROUP and PAGE

The Colombia Project now has a Group and a Page on FACEBOOK where we can easily post pictures and updates that can reach an entirely new audience. Anyone can join or visit the FACEBOOK Page to see photos and reports but you must be a member of FACEBOOK to join the Group.   The advantage of the FACEBOOK venues is that they permit The Colombia Project to disseminate more complete and visually appealing updates to our donors by sending them a link to the Page where photos with explanatory text are ready whenever they want to read them. Both the Group and the Page also allow visitors to upload photos and other information or take part in a discussion. It is interactive and participatory and invites prospective supporters to take an active role.

MINICOL Partnerships

MINICOL is a non profit registered in both Colombia and the United States to raise funds and provide support for displaced and disadvantaged children in Colombia. Like The Colombia Project, MINICOL is an all-volunteer organization with no overhead and is thus able to send 100% of its funds directly to Colombia to provide funds to educate young children. The MINICOL board is comprised primarily of Colombians who have moved to Miami, but maintain strong ties to their native communities.

MINICOL operates in 8 departments with programs in thirteen municipalities:

  • Antioquia – Concordia and Medellin
  • Bolivar – Cartagena
  • Caldas – Villa Maria
  • Choco – Playa de Oro
  • Cundinamarca – Santa Fe de Bogota
  • Guajira – San Juan del Cesar
  • Risaralda – Marsella and Santa Rosa de Cabal
  • Valle del Cauca – Cali, Cartago, La Victoria and Quindio

The Colombia Project now partners with MINICOL in both Quindio and Concordia with an opportunity to add additional MINICOL sites once the original two programs are well established and as funding levels permit. The Colombia Project has been invited to attend the annual MINICOL general meeting in February of 2009 to meet with directors of all the MINICOL sites.  

APRODEFA-Cartagena

Unlike our other partners that receive administrative support through existing contracts and social service programs, APRODEFA-Cartagena was created specifically to administer Colombia Project loans. Ofelia Fernandez, the program director is doing an excellent job, but is not adequately compensated, nor does APRODEFA have a designated meeting place.

The Colombia Project is exploring opportunities for short-term support of APRODEFA-Cartagena in the amount of $25,000 over a five year period, to cover salaries and administrative expenses until the loan pool is large so that the interest revenue will cover those costs.  We are looking for support from corporations and foundations and welcome suggestions from members of the FOC community regarding possible sources of financial support or a meeting space that would be accessible to Lomas de Peye and/or San Juan de los Campanos.

Contact helenedudley@yahoo.com
Helene Dudley
2151 SW 17 St Miami, Fl 33145-2117
305 856-5573